Adrian's Tomcat 100"

What is a Tomcat 100"

A Tomcat 100" is an off road vehicle originally designed by Drew Bowler (which he has now developed into the Wildcat) and is made up of a fibre glass body on a tubular steel space frame (big roll cage) on top of a Range Rover chassis. I have seen that Tomcats can be used at a comp safari, a hill rally, a trial, a winch challenge event as well as for playing in at ‘pay and play’ 4x4 and off road events.

See below for some photos of Tomcats built by other people. Like all the thumbnails (small pictures) on this web site, if you click on it, you will get a bigger version of the picture or a new page of information. Note that there are lots of photographs of various off road vehicles on this site, however some pictures are newer, bigger and / or better than others.

The parts for a Tomcat 100" are now made by Tomcat Motorsport (http://www.tomcatmotorsport.co.uk/). They are designed to stand up to the stresses of a Hill Rally or a Comp Safari, but mine will mostly be used for driving around the city I live in. It's styling should mean people won't cut me up and since it retains the original Rover V8 engine from the Range Rover it should be a pleasure to drive.

My Range Rover Donor Vehicle

I already have a 2 door 1979 Range Rover but it needs some work. I drove it for a year before the MoT ran out. The main faults were;

The gearbox got stuck in reverse when driving home from the garage I bought it from. To gain access to the box the heater had to be removed. This lead to a cold winter.

The overdrive lever snapped off in my hand during my first motorway journey.

Then I think I blew the diaphragm in one (or both) of the carbs. I will need to strip them down to check, then decide whether I will rebuild them, rebuild the other pair of cars I have, or fit some SUs.

There is lots of rust all over the Range Rover with the worst being found on the upper and lower tailgate (no surprises there). I don't like doing smart bodywork and painting, but I do like the Rover V8 engine and elevated driving position of the Range Rover so I am going to build a Tomcat 100".

Tomcats

Click on the picture for some pictures of other peoples Tomcats, which will have to do until I build my own.

Other Options

I decided to have a look (and photograph) some of the other things I could do with my 2 door Range Rover instead of building a Tomcat 100". Click on the picture for more details and photographs.

Off-Road Racers

I believe the tomcat was designed by Drew Bowler for competing in events such as Competitive Safaris (Comp Safaris) and Hill Rallies. There are of course other off-road vehicles built to race in these events. I can get some ideas from these off road racers for when I build my Tomcat even though mine off-roader won't be used for racing. Drew also went on to design the Wildcat.

Other Donor Vehicles

I am starting from the fact that I have an old two door Range Rover as a donor vehicle. However I may be able to get some ideas from buggies and off-roaders that are made using other donor vehicles.

Military Buggies

Most of the off road vehicles on this site were built for fun or competition. However some people use there off roaders for work, and their lives can depend on the vehicles performance. As the military spend a lot of money on their vehicles, I should be able to take advantage of some of their research.

Progress So Far

I have started to strip the Range Rover down. I have to do some building work first such as removing my raised patio which is falling down, and making some more storage space.

However I do have a 12' by 21' army surplus tent to act as a temporary garage.

I am now collecting the bits that are not available from Tomcat Motorsport.

Update 1

I have been getting more bits including heater windscreen washer jets and a choice of heaters to demist the windscreen. This may sound a bit soft, but my Tomcat will be used mainly on the road and not raced off-road, so some safety features will be important (in addition to the strength of the original Range Rover chassis).

The building work to make space for a shed (for more storage for old Range Rover or new Tomcat parts) is progressing. When digging out the old raised patio (to be replaced with decking), I removed a lot of rubble and rubbish (the pile including the corrugated iron).

I also discovered the old coal hole which may make a good garage for my mig welder after I have added a secure door.

Update 2

I have decided that before making the big buggy, I am going to make a small buggy. Now to find a scrapped motorbike and some quad bike wheels.

Update 3

As a first project to practice my skills, I will probably forget about building a small buggy with no suspension and a small engine. I could buy a small Daihatsu or Suzuki jeep that has failed its MoT. It would be cheaper and have suspension. It would however still only have a small engine!

Update 4 - Support Vehicle

I now have a tow vehicle! It is a 1983 Landrover 110 (not Defender) with a 3.5l V8 engine. For more details, click on the picture.

As the site is getting bigger with more menus and sub menus, here is a site map to aid navigation.

This web site, and my other one about my slot car racing track, Adrian's Slotcar World are hosted by 1&1. I would recommend them if you want to set up your own website. They can arrange the domain name, provide the necessary software and host the files that make up the web site. As the site gets bigger, you can also get more space. I have not run out of space yet! Their helpdesk has always been there to help me when I have problems.